Karen; a mobile first design

This project and design were done Pro-Bono as an effort to support, empower, and impact lives around the globe.The MVP sprint was done over 2.5 weeks for Karen.care.

The Team

Sean Reed | IA & Strategy

Cami Rose | Product Management & UI

Christine Tayaba | Research & User Testing

The Context

For many people who are taking care of their aging loved ones; the process of managing finances, keeping track of legal necessities, and ensuring a good quality life can be overwhelming. Karen provides tools and guidance to help everyday people provide better care for their loved ones.

We were approached with an MVP Desktop platform that needed to be integrated into a native, mobile-first approach. After extensive preliminary research and synthesizing existing user testing data, we created the following parameters.

Meet fran, our persona.

While creating this product, it was imperative for us to keep our target user in mind.

Fran is a 58 year old HR Director. Her father is aging very quickly and she wants to ensure that he is financially secure and happy. Unfortunately, the process is overwhelming, she doesn't have much time, and her brother has been unhelpful.

We want Fran to feel comfortable, secure, and confident when using the Karen app.

The customer journey& areas of improvement

We took a look at the user testing research of the initial Beta and deduced four major areas of improvement in Fran's customer journey.

Brand Clarity

What is Karen and who is it for specifically?

On-boarding and Flow

The initial on-boarding experience was heavy, tedious, and didn't introduce the users to the interface.

The Dashboard

Users struggled to differentiate between what a task and a category were.

The task list

Users were immediately inundated with a giant list of tasks, which confused them and made it difficult to use the platform.

From these areas of improvement we were able to create targeted goals for the project.

The goals

1. Create a seamless on-boarding process that is easy to understand, as well as give them the option to go at their own pace.

2. Determine the optimal flow for users to completethe customization of their experience.

3. Implement prioritized features that will increase the conversion rate of active to returning users.

From Research, to wireframes,into Design.

The tools

We utilized a C/C analyses to see what ways indirect/direct competitors of Karen were doing to address brand clarity.

Through this, we decided to create a 3 step introduction of the app that clearly communicates what Karen is and how it can be used.

One of the goals of Karen is to provide a comfortable, easy to access experience.

We decided to use elements that would 1. allow the users to go at their own pace, 2. be introduced to the functionality and value of the app, 3. communicate in a kind, welcoming tone.

The users struggled greatly with differentiating the categories from the tasks. In order to do this, we created (in the on-boarding) a thoughtful introduction to the categories, as well as making sure the information was clear and concise.

In the initial beta, users (like Fran) were inundated with a large Action Plan, which communicates well when in a book but unfortunately not in a task list.

While designing the task list, we wanted to make sure that the interface was simple, accessible, with core functions such as: complete, delete, and edit tasks, change the due date/ability to create recurring tasks, and the option to assign the task to another family member.

We deployed the InVision prototype to three of our target users and received excellent feedback.

Users understood Karen's purpose, greatly appreciated the security and being able to go at their own pace.

Users wanted to be able to set recurring tasks, didn't always finish the walkthrough, and some of the category titles made them sad.

Working with Karen was an incredible experience. There's still a lot of improvements to make, but overall the stakeholders were deeply pleased and inspired.